Trial and Error
by A. LaRosa
Summary: Danny/Sam. Five holidays, five surprises. In life there are many trials, and sometimes there are many errors. You decide which is which. Review!
1. Thought

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Danny Phantom. I doubt I ever will, but while I don't, all the credit goes to Butch Hartman.

**Author's Note**: Happy New Year! This is my first story of 2008, and I hope you enjoy it. This is a part of another challenge I'm a part of. I do a lot of those, don't I? Anyways, this is another challenge 5-senses (underscore, not dash, but since fanfiction seems to not recognize underscores, I have to make due) on LiveJournal. Instead of the traditional five senses, I chose the second list, which is comprised of: thought, movement, love, laughter, and memory. I'm actually going for a plot this time, so be afraid. Be very, very afraid.

**Preface**: Even though I had originally intended on using another plot-line for this challenge, a better (and more interesting) plot bunny bit me in the ass. I haven't accumulated anything with a real plot in ages, and I'm attempting to map this out in entirety. In order to fully understand what's going on, you need to understand that the first four chapters go in chronological order, going by holidays. The final, and most important, chapter to the five-chapter series, goes back in time to the night before what happened in the first chapter. It's all within the same year (as you'll be able to grasp soon), except for the last chapter, which skips back a day into the year previous.

So, the dates will be arranged like this: January 1st (New Year's Day), February 14th (Valentine's Day), April 1st (April Fool's Day), December 25th (Christmas), December 31st (New Year's Eve).

**You don't know how hard I tried to get all of this done by today so the first dates would match up!** Enjoy, and don't forget to review!

* * *

**Trial and Error**

**01**: Thought

**Theme**: 01. Thought

_January 1, 2008_

* * *

Jolted from her sleep by a loud banging noise, Sam sat up quickly–too quickly for her head to catch up with–in reaction to the sound threatening her eardrums. She groaned, pressing a hand to her temple as the bed sheets around her fell to her waist, exposing bare skin. As she felt a breeze, she looked down, and in shock, pulled the sheets up over her chest. She felt sore all over, and wondered bitterly if she got hit by a car while she was knocked out. Frantic eyes surveyed the room, and in summary, realized that it wasn't her own. She didn't even recognize it.

Closing her eyes, preparing herself for the worst, she gulped audibly and looked down next to her. She sighed in relief as she viewed her boyfriend clutching his pillow while he slept, snoring softly.

However, the banging on the door would not stop.

"Danny! I swear to God if you did anything in my bed, you will be–"

"I'm up, I'm up!" Danny yelled, jolting up to a sitting position from his slumber. When the knocking stopped, he sighed, running a hand through his hair. His head pounded, and he was fairly sure he had more than he should have to drink; fairly a lot more than he should have, as a matter of fact. He rubbed his eyes, hoping to wake himself up before having to face the wrath of Jazz, and yawned sleepily.

She sat there, eyeing him, waiting for him to realize he wasn't the only one in the bed. She didn't move an inch, but after a minute of silence and obliviousness, she cleared her throat.

As sky blue met violet, he felt his heart rate speed up. The first question tumbled from his lips without forewarning. "We didn't, did we?"

"I think we did," she replied, looking down at the sheets that covered her.

"I think we did, too," he looked down guiltily, then back up at her. "You don't remember anything, do you? I can't," he sighed, "even though I really want to."

Pursing her lips, she tried to think. Coming to the realization that she couldn't remember anything past her fifth drink, when the alcohol must've caught up with her, she sighed. "No."

"I'm sorry."

The dreadful pounding began again.

"Don't be," she said, only to tear her eyes away to look back at the door. She groaned, feeling no shame as she got out of bed and began to gather her clothes and put them on as quickly as she could. Glancing over to her counterpart, he was doing the same. Good.

"Danny, Sam, you two better have a good–"

"Jazz, lay off," another voice broke off her tirade, and she immediately shut up. Curious, though they were grateful for that silence.

After she finished getting her clothes on, she glanced in the mirror to see if her hair was decent enough, but only noticed the two garish love bites on her neck. Trying to move her hair to cover the marks, she noticed Danny watching her. Giving him a look, she flashed the marks at him, turning around to face him, instead of looking at him through the mirror.

"Thanks a lot," she replied, though with the small smile on her face, he knew she wasn't overly upset.

"Sorry," he shyly smiled back, once again running a hand through his hair.

She glanced at the bed they shared their first instance of lovemaking in, and she couldn't help but wish she was sober the night before. Mentally berating her behavior, Sam forlornly wished she could've at least remembered even a little of it; alas, she only had sore muscles as remembrance.

Shrugging off her disappointment, she figured it would be for the best, seeing as she wouldn't have to feel the initial pain now–_she hoped_. She had heard horror stories from the girls in the locker room during high school which made her fear the worst.

Making her way over to the bed, she decided that she would at least attempt to make it; Jazz would most likely be furious with them. She knew she would have been if that were her in this situation, and Jazz brought some guy to her bed.

Eventually seeing what she was doing, Danny came over to help; he figured it was the least he could do, since his sister would probably read him his rights the second he exited the room. As they finished making the bed, they surveyed the area one last time to see if they had forgotten anything. Realizing everything else they brought with them to the party was probably outside the room, they both headed directly for the door, ready to face the worst.

As she was about to reach for the door to unlock it, he halted her hand. "Sam, I... I'm really sorry about last night. I've wanted to do _that_ for a while, but I wanted it to be special." She could feel the guilt practically radiating off his form, and couldn't help but feel a little guilty herself.

"It wasn't just you, Danny," she said, placing a hand on his shoulder for comfort. "I didn't exactly say, 'no,' now, did I? I've wanted that, too, believe it or not. I do wish it could've worked out in better circumstances, though... but... we'll have more luck next time. It's a trial and error sort of thing."

"Next time? You mean–"

"Yes, I mean. Let's just go out there now and face the music and not wallow in here like cowards." Leaning forward, she placed a tender kiss on his lips. He smiled.

* * *

She felt like she was walking death row as they left Jazz's bedroom, crossing her apartment to find her. They were heading right into the eye of the storm.

As the kitchen table came into view, Tucker came into view, as well. Sitting there with a smirk on his face, he wiggled his eyebrows at the pair, before speaking. "I wonder what you two have been up to." They just wished he kept his mouth shut.

"Keep wondering," she shot back, giving him a look. "Do you know where the aspirin is? My head is pounding."

"It's right here," another voice rang out, followed by the shake of a bottle.

Turning to the voice, Sam frowned, hoping to nip this in the bud before the yelling started. Her head couldn't handle that right about now. "Look, Jazz, we're sorry–"

"Forget it. I was upset earlier, but it's nothing setting fire to my sheets won't fix," she waved her hand in dismissal. "I had some persuasion earlier that helped me see the truth of the situation. Thank him," she jerked a thumb in Tucker's direction before sitting down at the table next to him, placing the bottle of aspirin in front of the pair. "Help yourselves. Coffee's on the stove, too, if you want some."

After a few minutes of doing what they needed to do, Danny and Sam sat down at the kitchen table, nursing their coffees and praying to God their headaches would go away soon.

"How did the party wind up going last night?" Danny asked, trying to turn the conversation onto safer territory.

"It actually went all right," Jazz said, nodding. "I kicked everyone out around three, and after the noises stopped," she glared at them, "we just passed out in the living room after watching a movie. You missed the ball drop."

Tucker shot a grin in Danny's direction, "I doubt–"

"Tucker, if you finish that sentence, I will shove this spoon so far up your ass–"

"All right, all right," Danny intervened with a frown, rolling his eyes at Sam.

"He started it," she grumbled, then smirked and stuck her tongue out at Tucker immaturely when Danny wasn't paying attention to her.

"Anyways," Jazz said, stressing the word for emphasis as she watched Tucker and Sam being immature, "nothing was broken, stolen, or damaged, so I'd say it was a rather productive night."

"You can say that again."

Danny and Sam glanced at each other, then looked away. Danny looked up at his sister who gave him a look in return. Sam looked up at Tucker, who wiggled his eyebrows at her; she rolled her eyes and gave him a swift kick in the shin underneath the table for good measure.

--

After the idle, mindless chatter for the next twenty minutes, they decided it was a good enough time as any to get going. With that mainly being Danny's decision, since he _was_ the one driving, they gathered their things and headed down to his car.

It took more effort than he had at that point in time to ward off Tucker's comments; he would have a chat with the techno-fiend later, when Sam wasn't around. _Definitely _when Sam wasn't around.

After he dropped Tucker off, with a promise to call him later, he drove in the direction of Sam's house. She had been awfully quiet on the ride home, only adding in her sarcastic comments when she felt they were necessary.

Sam was so deep in thought she didn't even realize that they had reached her house and that he turned the engine off. He was patient, simply waiting for her to snap out it. Turning to him, she noticed that he was watching her; when their eyes met, he smiled warmly at her.

"Are we good?" he asked, his tone of voice hinting that he was fearing the worst with her answer.

Smiling, she reached for his right hand and enclosed it in her left. "We're more than just 'good', Danny. Don't worry about it, everything is fine. There's no need for awkwardness, neither of us remember what happened too well, and we have all the time in the world to get it right."

He nodded, reassured by her response, "Good. I'm glad that you're not upset with me." He hadn't been aware that he had been holding his breath until he spoke.

Unbuckling her seat belt and leaning over the console in the middle of the two seats, she kissed him. After a good ten seconds, she pulled away slightly to press her forehead to his. "I'm far from upset, Danny. I'm actually... intrigued. Tonight will be our chance. Come around midnight, so no one will expect that you're gone, all right?"

His eyes widened as did his smile. Nodding, he kissed her again before pulling away. "Your parents are still gone?"

"As always," she smiled, nodding. "I've never realized how well that could come in handy until now."

"I have–I mean, yeah, neither have I," he chuckled nervously, only to dodge (poorly) a light smack to his arm.

With a final kiss, she left him to find solitude in her room. Being alone allowed her to blast whatever music she damn well pleased to blast. That was exactly what she needed.

--

Sprawled out in a Danny-like manner on her bed, she stared at the ceiling, trying to place her thoughts. Her headache had subsided, praise whatever gods she believed in. All she was left to do was rest, think, and play the ever-so-hated waiting game.

Music surrounded her and seeped into every pore, calming the storm that was mid-cycle in her mind. They reflected on the night previous, wondering if it was a good thing that happened; no matter where she brought that thought, something felt off, amiss. She couldn't put her finger on it, but when Sam had a hunch, she was generally right. When those hunches happened and she couldn't place exactly what was off, it would drive her insane. That, in itself, should've given her another headache.

Pulling her phone out of her purse, she realized that she hadn't checked it in a good while. With three missed phone calls, two text messages, and a low battery, she rolled her eyes. People only seemed to call her when she didn't have her phone, didn't they? That, or three people would call her at the same time; she didn't know why that annoyed her so much. Voicemails annoyed her even more, she thought with a sigh as she checked them. One from her parents, wishing her a, "Happy New Year!" from some undisclosed location in the Bahamas about eight hours too late. _Business trip my ass_, she sourly thought. The second message was from Tucker, sounding extremely urgent. The third person who called didn't leave a message, so she didn't even bother. Checking her text messages, she had two from Tucker. Confused as to why it would be so important to get into contact with her, she decided to give him a call to kill time. She had nothing better to do.

"Sam, finally," he answered the phone.

"No 'hello' or anything?" she shot back jokingly, then continued, "What's the emergency? I haven't gotten this many texts and phone calls from you since the time you wanted me to get you the new upgrade for your PDA that was only out in Japan. Something's up."

"Something _is_ up, all right," he agreed.

"And that would be..." she trailed off, expectant for him to fill her in with the missing information.

"Me and Jazz, man. We hooked up," he said, then paused for her reaction.

"You and... you and _Jazz_? How in the hell–"

"When you two stole her bedroom, I had to calm her down–_you're welcome_–and we were both kind of tipsy, and it... just happened, I guess," he said. "This year is going to be my year, Sam!"

"Wow," she said softly, leaning back on her bed. "I should have seen that coming."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, weirder things have happened, and you two were starting to get closer... I mean, I should've guessed that something like that would–holy _shit_, Tucker, what are you going to do about Danny?"

"Um, well, that's the favor–"

"Tucker, I love you, but I am not and will not do your dirty work for you," she interrupted, trying to glare at him through the phone enough for him to get the hint. "You can't possibly think–" she took a deep breath, then continued, "You're going to have to bite the bullet on that one, man, if you plan on staying with her. Danny's gotten quicker with those things, especially if they're involving Jazz, if you haven't noticed. With me, they take some _time_."

He sighed, knowing she was right, "All right. Fine, I'll do it the next time I see him. Oh, or maybe Jazz could–" he paused, "That wouldn't be too smart, would it?"

"Not at all," she replied, somewhat glad he was catching on.

"Okay, okay. So, uh, how was last night?" he asked, hoping he wasn't invading privacy, and hoping she would tell him even a little bit.

"If I could remember, I would tell you," she sighed, crossing her legs. "I didn't think I drank that much last night. Did you see how much I drank?"

"Did you have any Jell-o shots?"

"Like three, I think, and then some of the blue stuff," she tried to remember, counting off on her fingers as she remembered what she drank. "Jell-O shots are like nothing, though."

"Uh, wrong," he chimed in, "they taste like there's nothing in them, but they're strong. That's where you messed up."

"Oh."

"'Oh' is right. So, you did... do it, right? Stop me if you don't want to tell me, it's cool."

"No, Tucker, it's fine. I'm pretty sure we did; without getting T.M.I., I can pretty much feel it."

"Gotcha. Does he remember anything?"

"I don't think so. It's fine, though. I'm not upset or anything, and we have plenty of time to–"

"Okay, you're going to stop that sentence right there before I get mental images I really don't want to have," he interrupted for his safety.

"All right," she chuckled. "But, hey, just don't tell Danny you know anything, since I'm pretty sure it breaches 'guy code' for the girlfriend to let the best friend know."

He laughed, "I won't say a word."

Flipping over onto her stomach, she listened to Tucker ramble on about how great Jazz was for another ten minutes. With the call of sleep being so strong and the need to not listen to Tucker anymore so great, they said their goodbyes. Not even a minute later, she was out like a light. She didn't know how much had been taken out of her the previous night; it was surprising to her, since she was the girl who could stay up for hours on end, but she didn't fight the impulse.

When she woke up, the sky was dark. Somewhat disheartened that she missed the entire day, she stretched and looked around her room sleepily. She glanced at the clock, and seeing the it was eleven o'clock, she figured she should get up, shower, and make the best of her time before Danny came. As that thought struck her, her nerves jump-started and she got out of bed with a grin.

She couldn't wait to see him. After all, they would be starting off the new year right... wouldn't they?


	2. Love

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Danny Phantom. I doubt I ever will, but while I don't, all the credit goes to Butch Hartman.

**Author's Note**: Happy Valentine's Day! Even though I think of it as Single's Awareness Day, I'll still write romance for today. This is another challenge 5-senses (underscore, not dash, but since fanfiction seems to not recognize underscores, I have to make due) on LiveJournal. Instead of the traditional five senses, I chose the second list, which is comprised of: thought, movement, love, laughter, and memory. I'm actually going for a plot this time, so be afraid. _Be very, very afraid._

**Preface**: Even though I had originally intended on using another plot-line for this challenge, a better (and more interesting) plot bunny bit me in the ass. I haven't accumulated anything with a real plot in ages, and I'm attempting to map this out in entirety. In order to fully understand what's going on, you need to understand that the first four chapters go in chronological order, going by holidays. The final, and most important, chapter to the five-chapter series, goes back in time to the night before what happened in the first chapter. It's all within the same year (as you'll be able to grasp soon), except for the last chapter, which skips back a day into the year previous.

So, the dates will be arranged like this: January 1st (New Year's Day), February 14th (Valentine's Day), April 1st (April Fool's Day), December 25th (Christmas), December 31st (New Year's Eve).

**Somehow I managed to match the second date as well? Don't worry, you're not going to have to wait until April (I hope) for an update on this story. Please review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

**Trial and Error**

**02**: Love

**Theme**: 02. Love

_February 14, 2008_

* * *

The feelings that bubbled inside of her disgusted her; well, they would've disgusted her if they weren't so overly happy–she felt like she was disowning her ways of being a Goth, but... she couldn't help it or push the feelings away.

For once, nothing was dark and dreary (except the way that her parents _still _were morning people--that never ceased to annoy her). Everything was going her way, and it just felt so weird to her.

What could be better?

What couldn't be better was her love life, that was for sure.

To put it simply, it was shocking how well her life was going. College classes were great, her spring semester had started without any problems. Her friends were always there for her, and she had no worries (besides the usual stress any teenager faced). Best of all, her boyfriend was absolutely amazing.

She felt entirely too optimistic in her own skin. She knew that lyric, "Something's gotta go wrong 'cause I'm feeling way too damn good," from that song that used to constantly play on the radio. She knew something _could_ go wrong, but she felt like living in the 'now' and forgetting about the 'then' entirely.

In regards to her relationship with Danny, whether it be friendship or more, she always walked cautiously. She never knew what would happen next. So, in turn, she had been guilty of not entirely letting herself be free with him.

Ever since New Year's Eve... she found herself falling harder for him than she ever thought possible, and she didn't feel like she needed to be cautious anymore. The way her heart sped up whenever she saw him, heard his voice, or woke up to his face should've given her a heart attack by now, but she loved the excitement. It proved she could feel, and love–it was something she thought was impossible to do once upon a time, and she loved proving herself wrong. For now, at least.

Currently lying on her back in the middle of her queen-sized bed, she couldn't help but let her mind wander to him. With the amount of time they had spent in her bed, she was surprised her mind didn't approach the topic sooner. The way that he was so attentive to her, the way that they made love... with every look and glance, she could see the love in his eyes. It used to scare her to an extent, but she always loved things that could scare her. Something _that _strong, _that _bold that could move her–she wanted more of it like it was a drug and she needed her fix.

She smiled as she looked around her room, taking in the collective parts that made her whole. She felt different, and yet the same–she felt change, but couldn't pinpoint it no matter how hard she tried.

"I wonder what he planned for today," she mused, almost frowning at her excitement at the over-consumerist holiday, but not being able to bring her nerves down. "He said it was going to be a day I'll never forget, but..." her eyes darted to her calendar, and then rolled at the purple heart within the box for today's date. As she was just about to look away from the wall-hanging, she noticed a red circle around the first of the month; not paying much attention to it or its significance, she rolled back to a lying position on her bed. "I should've done more," she thought out loud, frowning, trying to think of something she could do for him for the holiday. "Maybe he would like..." A smile erupted on her face before he brought her hands up to rub her cheeks. "I'm a total nutcase," she chuckled, looking to the heavens for some balance. "I'm talking to myself."

"Or, you could be talking to me," a disembodied voice rang out in her room, and she couldn't help but smile even more. "I'll just say that for the sake of both of our minds, yeah? And what would I like?" he asked as an afterthought, intrigued by her one-person conversation and where it was going. Changing back to being human from his alter-ego, his feet touched the carpet softly as he gracefully (after many failed attempts in the past, he was bound to get the hang of it) dropped from the air.

"Oh, you'll see," she smirked in response, her gaze reaching higher and higher as he stepped closer to the bed, towering over her. Leaning down, he placed a soft kiss on her lips, which she eagerly returned, pulling him down more to force him to sit on the bed with her.

He broke away with a smile after a few seconds. "I like, I like," he chuckled, then kissed her again. "Happy Valentine's Day," he said suddenly, a light blush tinting his cheeks as he held out a single rose, dark purple in color.

With a sharp intake of breath followed by a happy smile, she took the rose in her hands that he presented to her. "Oh, Danny, it's beautiful," she grinned, then kissed his cheek. "And definitely not over the top."

"Just like you wanted," he smiled. "And," he overemphasized the word for effect, "I'm taking you out for hot cocoa and ice skating, my treat." As an afterthought, he added, "You're not paying for any of it, no matter how much you argue."

Knowing he beat her to the punch, she rolled her eyes with a smile. "Fine, fine," she said, giving him a look. "How about I owe you one?"

"I owe you a million already, but... okay," the impish smirk grew as she rolled her eyes yet again. "Maybe in the form of–"

She knew what he was getting at immediately the second he started twiddling his thumbs. "Yes, I know that you were eyeing a certain something in the window of a certain lingerie shop," she said with an all-knowing eyebrow raise. "Don't worry, I'll take care of you."

"Now that's something every boyfriend loves to hear."

--

The air was brisk, and even though the need for winter to be over was heavy in the air, the snow on the ground fit well with the day–especially when they were ice skating. Bundled up in winter coats and various accessories for the cold weather, they bounded onto the ice, Sam much more confident in her skating abilities than Danny. Well, he didn't know how well he could skate since he hadn't been ever since he was a child, but... he didn't think it would be too hard, right?

Not as crowded as they anticipated originally, the outdoor ice skating rink had a fine smattering of people, including many couples, skating. The atmosphere was nice, calm with little disruption, as well as light music playing in the background over the speakers outlining the rink.

"I wish I thought this through," Danny said, a miserable smile on his face as he held onto the side of the rink, unable to stand up straight without falling. Even though he was most likely embarrassing himself in front of his girlfriend, he knew she wouldn't poke fun (too much).

"You're the strongest person I know, skilled in _many _different ways," she left that statement loaded, allowing it to be taken many different ways, "but you can't ice skate?"

He shook his head and heaved a melodramatic sigh, chuckling at his behavior before trying to move a foot or two down the ice. Couples whizzed by them, locked arm-in-arm with each other, and Danny wished nothing more that he could manage to get his skating under control so he and Sam could be like that–or even a little bit like that in their own way.

"I didn't go much as a child," he supplied as an excuse, shrugging. "Did you? You seem to know what you're doing."

"It was an outlet my mother approved of when I was younger," she replied. "She figured I would follow it through to compete, but I didn't want to."

"Wait, you're actually," he paused, "really good at this?"

She shrugged, then said, "Define good." She took his hand in hers and tugged, forcing him to stand upright instead of slouched over against the wall. "Put your arm around my waist," she instructed with a small smile. He complied without a word, and she did the same; they were supporting each other–much sturdier than before, Danny noted. They glided along the ice at a better pace, and he felt more confident in his ability than before.

"You _are_ good," he mumbled in amazement. "Jazz tried to get me to learn how to skate about three times before giving up on me." He chuckled nervously, "Though I do understand why she would want to quit on me after my skate wound up in her face."

"Danny!" she scolded, giving him a look. "That's horrible," she chuckled, shaking her head. "What exactly happened?"

"Well, I fell and took her with me. That would definitely be the simple version minus the bickering, arguing, and threatening–oh, and the bloodshed. She had to get stitches from the infamous 'skate-to-the-face' incident. Don't mention it to her, though, or she'll come after me with something sharp," he grinned down at her and chuckled nervously again. "I apologize in advance if I take you down with me."

"Should I fear for my life right now?" she joked, knowing fully well that he would never intentionally hurt her.

"Ha ha," he laughed sarcastically, but then changed the direction of the conversation back to where it was before. "So, wait, can you do any tricks?" he asked, intrigued at her skill that she never mentioned before.

"I knew this was coming," she gave him a look, then rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Yes, I know a couple tricks."

"Can you do a–"

"I can do basic things like skating backwards, forward spins, and I can do a double axel, or at least I used to be able to, which was the extent of my training when I was younger. No, I can't do any back flips, nor can I do a triple salchow." As an afterthought, she added, "I stopped skating when I was nine."

Pulling out of their mutual hold, he leaned against the wall for support as he gave her a look that implored her to attempt a trick. "Please?"

"You've got to be kidding me, Danny," she said, her expression falling. "There are people around! I don't want to mess up and fall on my ass with spectators!" she hissed with a frown as she neared him.

"Please?" he asked again, pleading more with his eyes than before.

Swearing internally at her lack of strength when it came to those blue eyes, she took off on the ice, leaving Danny behind. As she skated away, he grinned triumphantly.

Gaining speed around the rink, she sized up how she would avoid people on the rink and still manage to perform the trick. She passed by Danny at least once, purposefully not meeting his eyes, as she gained speed before turning to skate backwards to set herself up for the move. Seeing an open area for the move, she headed straight for it; she spun forward, vaulting herself into the air, crossing her left leg through in front of her right before uncrossing them and landing on her right leg. Her arms spread for balance, which she maintained miraculously for not having performed that trick in a while. Slowing down the speed of her skating, she nonchalantly skated back up to Danny with a shy smile. "Happy?"

The expression on his face was priceless: his eyes were wide and his mouth was open. She smirked and tapped his chin lightly with her fingers to shut his mouth before placing a kiss upon it. "I take it that you liked it?"

Snapping out of his awe, he gathered her up into his arms and held her close. "I learn new things about you every day," he mumbled into her hair. "I am amazed by you."

She couldn't help but blush, "Oh, stop..."

"What?" he pulled away, looking down at her. "I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. Well, maybe I could," he grinned sheepishly, "but I'd have help from my ghost powers." As an afterthought, he added, "Where you don't even have that option." He kissed her tenderly on the forehead, "I love you, Sam."

Her blush reddened and she buried her face in his jacket, pressing her cheek up against his chest against the warm material of his hoodie underneath. "I love you, too," she mumbled as her arms snaked around his waist.

"You know," Danny said after a short period of silence, "I don't think life could get any better right now."

She sighed softly in contentment, snuggling against him for warmth. "I _must _be dreaming."

After they skated around the rink for a while longer, they both agreed that it was time for some hot cocoa to warm them up. They left the rink hand in hand, heading in the direction of a local coffee shop. As they were almost there, Danny's cell phone chirped in his pocket, blaring a ringtone Sam rolled her eyes at. Chuckling embarrassedly, he checked the caller I.D. to see who it was before flipping his phone open and answering.

"What's up, Dad?" he spoke into the receiver. "You what?" He paused, rolling his eyes, showing Sam the direction of the conversation. "How could you forget?" They continued to walk, but when Danny stopped with a sigh, so did she. "What do you want me to get her?" Pause. "All right, all right, I'll see what I can do." Pause. "How in the–how did you manage to get reservations _there_?" He chuckled, "Hey, at least you got something right." Pause. "Yeah, I'm with her." With a side-glance to Sam, he mouthed, 'Dad says "Hi,"' before smiling.

"Hi back," she mumbled, smirking.

"She says 'hi' back, Dad," he spoke, now shifting from one foot to the other, waiting for his dad to wrap up the conversation. "No, not yet, I'm giving it to her later."

She was now intrigued where this conversation was going. "Give me what?"

"All right, I'll swing by the mall now. You owe me one!" He laughed. "All right, a million. I'll be home soon. Bye," he said finally, snapping his cell phone shut and turning back to Sam. "Change of plans, sadly. We're going to have to swing by the mall since my Dad forget yet _again_ to buy my mother something that he couldn't eat himself first. He bought her chocolates, but then forgot what they were for and ate them before remembering that it's Valentine's Day today."

She smiled, knowing that was typical Jack, before asking him, "What are you going to give me later? I told you–"

"I know what you said and I listened, don't worry," he replied, cutting her off. "I just... decided to not listen a teeny bit and get you something I know you've had your eye on."

Her heart swelled at those words, though she chose not to show it directly. "You know you didn't have to do that."

"I know," he agreed. "I wanted to, though. I can't wait to see the look on your face when you see what it is that I got you."

--

"I wonder how many times I've done that in my life," Danny said from his position on the couch, just having said goodbye to his parents who left for their Valentine's Day dinner. "I think Jazz did it last year, and me the year before. He never manages to remember."

"Here's hoping your children won't have to do that with you," Sam joked good-naturedly, nudging his side. She sat next to him on the couch, leaning against him.

"Hey, I remembered without any prodding from an outside source," he smiled at her, then wiggled his eyebrows. "Plus, I helped my Dad out, so I should get bonus points. And a cookie."

She chuckled, "Uh huh. I could go for just about anything right now."

"Anything?" he asked, once again wiggling his eyebrows at her. She could practically see the gears in his head work as his eyes lit up. "Hey, I have a fun bit of trivia for you."

"Oh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Putting a finger over her lips to quiet her, he remained silent as well, every so often glancing at her with a smirk. "Silence. Do you know what that means?"

Sitting up completely, thoroughly confused, she furrowed her eyebrows at him, "No?"

"We have the house to ourselves," he supplied, smiling deviously.

"You, _sir_, are a horny bastard," she grinned.

"I have to give you your present, don't I?" he asked innocently. He got up from the couch and reached a hand down to help her up, which she took to stand.

Just as she stood, a wave of dizziness passed over her, and she had to steady herself by holding onto his arm. "Whoa," she mumbled, blinking a few times. "Remind me not to eat for extended periods of time."

"You haven't eaten today?" he asked, changing his route from the bedroom to the kitchen. "Come on, we'll grab something before we head upstairs."

"Sounds great," she followed him into the kitchen before sitting down at the table. Rummaging through his fridge, he pulled out things he knew she would like and started putting together a meal for her. She watched him with a curious expression, "Do I even have to tell you what I want anymore or do you just have that covered?"

"I have everything covered," he responded without looking back at her. "Including you when you finish eating," he added cheekily as he continued to make her dinner. "And then round two."

Getting up from the table, she walked over to him and hugged him from behind, slipping her arms around his waist. Reaching up on tip-toe, she kissed his cheek. Finishing what he was making, he turned in her arms and grinned down at her before kissing her sweetly on the lips.

"Round two of what?" she asked, smirking. "Eating or..."

"The big 'or' you speak of would be great," he said, kissing her again. "At the same time as food would be even better. And in my own bed? It's a dream come true for me."

"Men," she chuckled before kissing him. Reaching behind him for the sandwich he made, she took a bite the second the broke away from the kiss, smiling audaciously at him.

He growled playfully, grabbing her and hoisting her over his shoulder, sandwich still in hand; as he led her up the stairs and to his bedroom, her muffled protests trailing his every step.


	3. Laughter

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Danny Phantom. I doubt I ever will, but while I don't, all the credit goes to Butch Hartman.

**Author's Note**: Happy April Fool's Day, I guess. I don't really do much for the "holiday" but I know some of my friends are going all out trying to torment friends and family members. This is another challenge 5-senses (underscore, not dash, but since fanfiction seems to not recognize underscores, I have to make due) on LiveJournal. Instead of the traditional five senses, I chose the second list, which is comprised of: thought, movement, love, laughter, and memory. I'm actually going for a plot this time, so be afraid. _Be very, very afraid._

Also, what's been hidden before is now out in the open. What do you think? Did you see it coming? I know some people did and they alluded to it in their reviews. Kudos to you! I feel like this chapter was entirely too short for my liking, but the next chapter is going to be ridiculously long to make up for the giant gap in time. I feel like there should be one in between, so that may be a different chapter, maybe even in 15(underscore)limes or something.

**Preface**: Even though I had originally intended on using another plot-line for this challenge, a better (and more interesting) plot bunny bit me. I haven't accumulated anything with a real plot in ages, and I'm attempting to map this out in entirety. In order to fully understand what's going on, you need to understand that the first four chapters go in chronological order, going by holidays. The final, and most important, chapter to the five-chapter series, goes back in time to the night before what happened in the first chapter. It's all within the same year (as you'll be able to grasp soon), except for the last chapter, which skips back a day into the year previous.

So, the dates will be arranged like this: January 1st (New Year's Day), February 14th (Valentine's Day), April 1st (April Fool's Day), December 25th (Christmas), December 31st (New Year's Eve).

Anywho, enjoy reading this and please review to tell me what you think! Reviews mean a lot more than you'd imagine.

* * *

**Trial and Error**

**03**: Laughter

**Theme**: 03. Laughter

_April 1, 2008_

* * *

The second she came in the door from her short day of classes–she always managed to pick the early classes so she could get home and actually have part of the day to herself–she couldn't help but pause to sit on the living room sofa to get her bearings. She was feeling dizzy yet again, and she couldn't manage to keep her food down no matter how much she wanted to. She couldn't get through the night without having to run to the bathroom to heave food that wasn't in her stomach. Bile was not a nice taste in her mouth.

Becoming concerned started the week before, when these spells got worse; now, she was extremely alarmed, border-lining on freaking out, and she feared having to go to the doctor's to see what was wrong. She didn't want to bring anything up to her parents, since once they found out any ailment bothering her or compromising her schoolwork and extra curricular activities (somehow working on the school newspaper counted for something in their eyes, for once), they would bring in the entire medical staff of Amity Park Hospital until they came down to the exaggerated truth.

She probably just had a stomach bug.

'Probably' being the word she relied on most in that sentence.

After not eating much all day, Sam figured it would be best to try and force something down so she wouldn't faint from the dizziness; knowing her luck, that would probably happen. After she made herself a small sandwich, it immediately didn't sit well with her. Needless to say, she made a mad dash to the bathroom once again--her running skills came in handy yet again.

Groaning as she had to bend over to look for some extra toothpaste, she wondered what the hell was going on with her body. She didn't feel sick other than the nausea, and don't symptoms go hand-in-hand when it comes to these sorts of things? She figured she would get headaches or something, but...

"Wait a second," she murmured as she found the toothpaste alongside spare bottles of shampoo and conditioner as well as feminine hygiene products.

Feminine... hygiene... _shit_.

Quickly depositing some toothpaste on her toothbrush, she began to brush her teeth and she took off in a sprint out of the bathroom and up to her bedroom. Intent on figuring out if her calculations were, in fact, off; if they were off, then she would have nothing to worry about.

"Today is..." she looked at the calendar, "April first. Okay, and the last time I had..." she flipped back to March–nothing. She flipped to February and there it was, a bright red circle on the first that had been previously ignored. "It's been two months since I've had my period?"

She was silent for the brief minute her heart leaped into her throat as she took in this information. As soon as it struck her, though...

"_Shit_! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..." she growled in frustration, her words distorted due to the toothbrush in her mouth. "Who forgets that? Oh my God, how could I have been so stupid?"

Some stomach bug.

* * *

She was a woman on a mission.

After having to try and play it cool at the register, she managed to go sight unseen (as far as appearances went) and purchase three pregnancy tests. Three, since she figured the first two would probably be faulty anyways. She had to be _sure_.

After chugging a good amount of water (mostly successful–she was so nervous that she almost dropped the glass a couple of times), she went about her business. She had to make sure, she had to know if it was all in her mind or she was just... broken, maybe. She hoped she was broken. Really, _really _hoped.

A half hour came and went, and she sat restlessly on the lid of the toilet, already tired out from pacing back and forth as the minutes ticked by. She had to swallow her fears, suck it up, and be brave. She had to, just in case they were...

Positive.

Positive.

Nega... _nope_, positive.

The wall never seemed so interesting before to stare it, but she found herself spacing out at it in a daze.

Her life was so perfect, so seemingly perfect, and then... and then this had to happen. She couldn't help but feel resentment towards the... the being inside of her–oh, it almost made her shudder to think of it in terms like that–but she couldn't help it... hell, she could barely swallow the concept of her becoming an adult, how was she supposed to swallow that _large pill _of becoming a mother? Her own mother was a poor example, how would she fair with a child of her own? And so young? She felt like she was still a child herself sometimes.

Oh, and Danny... he was probably going to duck and run. He was probably going to get scared, try and figure out how this could've happened to him–not them, just him–and leave her–

"No," she said suddenly, with more confidence than she felt. "No, he's not going to. He'll put on a brave face, tell me everything will be fine and then..." What happens then? "He loves me," she sighed, nerves eating at her. "He wouldn't leave me alone. We're in this together and he is sure as hell not running away. I'm not letting him."

Oh, but they were so careful. She knew that, since she always had condoms around and she knew he did the same. Every single time! They always took precautions and she was even going to start going on the pill soon, just to be on the safe side. Good thing she didn't start that sooner, though, that wouldn't have been good for the baby.

Her eyes widened and, balling her hands into fists, slammed them against her thighs and let out a choked sob. She had her future planned out, she had everything set and everything under way. Why now? Why her? She knew the ideology that anything could happen to anyone, even when you don't think it will.

How in the world, if they had been so careful, could she have gotten–

"New Year's Eve," she whispered, scoffing at herself for not thinking of it sooner. "Of course. We don't remember what happened but we do remember that we had sex against our better judgment. Shit, shit, _shit_."

Whining wouldn't help anything, she knew, but she allowed herself the luxury. No one was listening to her, so she figured she could bitch and moan 'til kingdom come.

Though... now she knew what she had to do.

* * *

"I have no clue how to approach this," she said as she dropped down on his bed.

The look of concern on his face alarmed her even further, and her nerves were completely alive with a vengeance. She wrung her hands, trying to figure out how the hell she was going to word this.

She doubted questions like, 'Have you noticed that I've put on some weight lately? Funny story: do you know why I haven't been able to keep any food down? Guess what! You knocked me up, we're going to have a baby!' or even 'Remember that night we had drunken sex? Well, you didn't wear a condom. Guess what?' in a sing-song voice would really hold the value of what she was trying to say.

She sighed.

"Well, be direct about it. Dancing around the truth isn't good, you know," he suggested, shrugging. He was genuinely worried, but then again, he figured it was nothing to be worried about knowing her and she was blowing it out or proportion–

"I'm pregnant."

She made sure to watch for his reaction, but she didn't get the reaction she thought she was going to get. Hell, she didn't think it was anywhere close to the reaction she was going to get.

At first, his eyes widened, but realization seemingly dawned on him and he started to chuckle. "April Fool's, right?" he asked, watching her with a smile. "That almost scared me there, though. You should've gotten more creative. That one's been used so many times by women. I thought I knew you better–"

"I'm not kidding, Danny," she said, looking thoroughly morose. "You_ do_ know me better that I wouldn't even joke about such a thing. Three pregnancy tests in my bathroom beg to differ with that thought of it being a joke."

_Now_ he was shocked. Needing to sit down, he sat next to her on his bed, staring at the wall the same way she had been previously when she found out for sure.

"_That's_ why I've been sick so much," she said softly. "It's been morning sickness, I figure."

"How long have you known?"

"Today I managed to stop being an idiot and put two and two together. I'm ashamed it's taken me three full months to actually realize this. I've put on a couple pounds I'll admit, but it never occurred to me that I am actually... pregnant. I thought I was lucky for not having my period for a while, and then I go and realize I hadn't gotten it since February first."

"You didn't realize that for two whole months afterward? I thought girls were on the ball with those things?"

"Not as much as you'd think. Some _are _really, but I tend to forget..."

"So," he sighed, now looking at her, "when do you think it happened?"

"New Year's Eve," she replied, giving him a sad smile. "Chances are, you probably didn't wear a condom."

"True," he sighed, but then eyed her, trying to see any underlying emotions or meanings he was missing. "You're awfully calm about this."

"I got my crying out before I came to see you," she replied, frowning.

"You–" he frowned at that piece of information, "You shouldn't have waited, I would've come over there to see you, you know. You didn't have to come all the way over here, it might strain–"

"You say 'it might strain the baby' and I'll deck you right in the mouth."

"All right," he shrugged, defeated.

"Wait a second, you're not going to say anything about... giving the baby up?" She was somewhat in awe of the level of maturity he was exerting, but she didn't make that overly evident in her expression. "You're not going to come up with excuses for anything?"

"Why should I?"

"Well, you don't want a child, do you?" she asked, bracing herself for the answer.

"Not now, particularly, but... I had thought about it before after one too many chick flicks I'd been subjected to. Even though I'm a guy, yes." He turned so he could fully wrap his arms around her. "We're in this together, Sam, and no matter what, I'm going to be here for you and the baby. I'll admit I'm pretty scared, but I think I'm more scared of dealing with our parents than with the actual baby. Don't you think so?"

With a muffled groan against his shoulder, she mumbled, "Can we not tell my parents? We can run away, get eloped."

"I doubt that would solve anything," he chuckled softly, knowing he would jump at the chance if they really could run away from it all.

"I know," she sighed.

"But, um," he started to ask tentatively, "you want to keep the baby, too, right?"

He felt her nod against him. She moved to speak more clearly, "Even though I'm pro-choice, I don't want to hurt something that's a part of me already for this long... I don't even think we have a choice right about now with how long it's taken me to wake up and smell the coffee here."

"Valid point," he replied.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry, too. But, hey, think of it this way... it's not the end of an era, it's the beginning of one."

"Beginning of an era? What are you talking about?"

"You know," he said, smoothing her hair back and capturing a piece behind her ear, "of our future. No matter what, Sam, we're in this together. I'm not going anywhere, and we're going to raise one hell of a kid. Age means nothing to me, and we're both mature enough to accept the consequences of what we did. So... I'm with you one-hundred percent and that's how it's always going to be."

She smiled, fearing that if she said anything her voice would crack, and figured that smiling would just be enough.

He kissed her gently, proving how much he loved her solely by that kiss alone, and any doubt that she was experiencing flew out the window. She felt loved, trusted, and... complete, somehow?

Shit, shit, shit...

Despite that, she was still pregnant.

_Dammit_.

She felt like it was an April Fool's joke from God.

She was scared, though she knew she could handle this eventually to the best of her capability. The entire ordeal was going to be frowned upon by her parents, she already knew that, and they were just going to have to take this in stride. They had fought side-by-side together against horrible monsters, ghosts, and evil forces... how hard would it be to take on their parents? ...and childbirth? Fuck.

This was a cruel, cruel April Fool's joke from God.


	4. Memory

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Danny Phantom. I doubt I ever will, but while I don't, all the credit goes to Butch Hartman.

**Author's Note**: This is another challenge 5-senses (underscore, not dash, but since fanfiction seems to not recognize underscores, I have to make due) on LiveJournal. Instead of the traditional five senses, I chose the second list, which is comprised of: thought, movement, love, laughter, and memory. I'm actually going for a plot this time, so be afraid. _Be very, very afraid._

I'm sorry that this took so long, but... better late than never, right?

**Preface**: Even though I had originally intended on using another plot-line for this challenge, a better (and more interesting) plot bunny bit me in the ass. I haven't accumulated anything with a real plot in ages, and I'm attempting to map this out in entirety. In order to fully understand what's going on, you need to understand that the first four chapters go in chronological order, going by holidays. The final, and most important, chapter to the five-chapter series, goes back in time to the night before what happened in the first chapter. It's all within the same year (as you'll be able to grasp soon), except for the last chapter, which skips back a day into the year previous.

So, the dates will be arranged like this: January 1st (New Year's Day), February 14th (Valentine's Day), April 1st (April Fool's Day), December 25th (Christmas), December 31st (New Year's Eve).

**This is the final chapter is chronological order. Next and finally, we'll be seeing what happened that fateful night, back on December 31****st**** that brought them to this very point.**

Enjoy reading this and please review to tell me what you think! Reviews mean a lot more than you'd imagine.

* * *

**Trial and Error**

**04**: Memory

**Theme**: 05. Memory

_November 2, 2008_

* * *

It was already Christmas.

So much had happened in a short amount of time. There was a whirlwind of events that passed by her vision, all types of things that she had never imagined would happen to her in the first place, much less happening to her in the span of single year.

She didn't know if she was ever going to be a mother, and yet... she was graced with child. Even though she wouldn't readily admit it, she _was_ one of those mothers that fawned over every little thing her child did. Every smile, every moment, every moment that looked like a smile. Anything and everything, and Danny was exactly the same way. When she thought that she would hate this child for slowing her life down, for pulling her opportunities away from her... the first glimpse into her child's baby blue eyes reversed all morose ways of thinking that had plagued her during her pregnancy.

* * *

"_You're _what_?" Mrs. Manson screamed, clutching at the yellow fabric of her dress. "Please tell me that I'm hallucinating my worst nightmare!" she hissed, dropping her voice to a low hiss._

_The words were hard enough to say, even with Danny gripping her hand (or was she gripping his that tightly?) to provide moral support and comfort. Those words that she had dreaded telling her parents for _exactly this reason_ had to be said, had to be uttered, in order for her to admit to herself that she was, in fact, pregnant with Danny's child. The same boy who had repeated restraining orders put on him by the very people they were confronting._

_It was May._

_She was beginning to show, past the point where she could be able to hide it._

"_You can't honestly think you're going to keep the child, can you?" her mother continued haughtily, seemingly unaware of the look of horror on her daughter's face. Eying her up and down, taking in the 'damage', she frowned. "Samantha, you're nineteen years old, you have a wonderful life ahead of you if you just look past this little snag. Don't make the same mistake I did!"_

"_...mistake?" she dead-panned. "Oh, no, we're getting out of here," Sam growled, gathering her things. The need to get out of there was much higher than before. She _was _going to put up with her mother, put up with her down-talk and ignorance to love, but _oh no_, she had to pull that card and insult her so thoroughly. "I can't live in a house like this–"_

"_Who said you were going to be able to stay in this house if you kept that child?" he father said cooly, particularly glaring at Danny. He figured it was Danny's fault above all. His daughter (in his eyes), albeit very radical, would never bring this on herself._

"_Excuse me? You're kicking me out?" Sam breathed, her eyes widening. "I don't get the chance to walk out on my own, but you get to kick me out?" she asked incredulously, her tone rising with each question. "Fine. I don't need your help," she huffed, standing. She tugged Danny up with her, glaring at her mother, then her father. "You'll never see any child of mine, and that's a promise I intend to keep. You can't just accept the fact that I'm happy and in love and _pregnant_–"_

"_At nineteen, Sam! What do you think the neighbors will think? Our friends? Our clients? Your parents," Pam looked directly at Danny, now, with the utmost disapproval. "Though, with those scatterbrained half-wits I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't welcome you and that bastard child with open arms."_

"_Fuck this," Sam grumbled, starting to walk, to leave, but was halted by Danny not moving an inch from where he stood. She blinked at him with confusion, wondering why he would possibly want to stay and continue fighting._

"_I'd like to know one _single _thing my parents have done to you," he said lowly, his voice slightly dangerous. "I'd like to know _one _way that they disrespected you or your daughter in any way."_

_Neither parent spoke._

"_That's what I thought," he said with a frown, turning to leave with Sam. "They show her more love and affection than you ever have."_

_As they reached the door, Sam turned, saying, "I'll get my belongings on my own time. Don't worry about them, though I believe you won't have any problem with that." For once, she didn't feel any hint of guilt–she was justified in her actions. So what if she was young? She was one of the most independent and level-headed people she knew. She would be perfectly fine without them holding her back._

_The next morning, when they went into Sam's old room in order to put her possessions into boxes, the room was bare–Danny had come in the middle of the night to take what mattered._

_They attempted to call her, make any sort of contact with her, but she never picked up the phone. She never answered the door, either, when they had found where she had moved._

* * *

She didn't think she would've been kicked out of her own house (she never believed that she could ever go _that_ far with her radical protests), but she was. She was still a teenager on the cusp of adulthood, after all; Sam was just being thrust into that world a little too soon for his liking.

She thought that she was going to complete college in one grand swoop, get a job at a local publishing house, and be comfy for the rest of her life, thinking that maybe–possibly–one of those days down the road she would start a family with the man she loved. No, that happened sooner rather than later, cutting into her valuable college years that she would never get back.

Now, that special time of year was upon them again: the holiday season. Snow was falling consistently onto the pavement, effectively screwing up plans and cancelling school for all that cared. Everyone had been bitten by the festive bug, going shopping to buy the perfect presents for family and friends. Even Sam, who really felt like she shouldn't be celebrating Christmas, but her extended family felt the need to include her–and, ultimately, she couldn't refuse the opportunity for Emily to have her first traditional Christmas with her father's side of the family. Granted, Emily was only three months old and wouldn't be able to remember, but still. Sam would only admit to herself, on the one hand, that she enjoyed spending time there (no matter how many times she would roll her eyes and groan softly whenever Danny sent a sympathetic look her way).

In regards to her personality, Sam had remained as close to her true self as she possibly could. Her Goth persona had flown out the window over the months of her pregnancy (Maternity Goth clothes? Not so much.), though she still dressed in dark colors, opting for jeans and a pair of Converse instead of her boots (which _killed_ her feet, making her cringe at the sight of them; she was greatly torn over that fact). She dressed Emily in darker clothes, too, though kept some pastels in there to prove that she wasn't trying to shape her child into what she wanted her to be. She would _not_ be that type of mother. No way in hell.

Danny, ever the doting boyfriend with her best interests at heart, barely left her side–that she was immensely grateful for. He matured even more so than he already was, and that impressed her more than words could ever say. He was now twenty, she nineteen; despite their youth, they managed to take everything in stride.

* * *

"_You're serious, aren't you?" Maddie asked from her position on the couch, having sat down on it without even thinking as the news sank in. Jack was sitting next to her, holding her hand for support._

_The guilt that wasn't there for her own parents was there for his without a doubt; they were more her real parents than her actual parents ever were and probably would ever be. They were more caring, more attentive, knew what to say to make her not feel worthless... and, somehow, she felt like she, personally, was letting them down after all they had done for her._

_Danny nodded. "Yeah, we're serious. I know," he began, looking down at the ground from where he was sitting across the room, "this isn't the ideal time, and I know we're not married yet, but... you know how much I love her, mom." He spoke as if she wasn't there in the flesh listening to every word he was saying, but it touched her nonetheless to hear the words she already knew. "And you _know _that I will do everything in my power to make sure she and the baby are happy."_

"_Of course you will!" Jack said, now wrapping his arm around his wife._

"_Oh, sweetie, I know that," Maddie said, watching her son with an odd sense of pride swelling within her. "I'm just a little disappointed that you weren't more careful, that's all. However," she said, nodding, "what's done is done, and this baby is going to be the most loved baby in all of Amity Park." She smiled at her son and then at Sam, who was nervously sitting next to Danny. "You are such a brave and strong girl, Sam," she said, her smile very warm. "Despite everything, you still manage to keep a level head. I just wanted you to know that. What are you planning on doing now?"_

"_I..." she looked at Danny before looking back at his mom, "don't... really know. Right now a good portion of my belongings are up in Danny's room after he took them from my house. I was figuring I could use whatever money I have to put into an apartment or something until the baby comes."_

"_Nonsense! You'll stay here with us until you can get back on your feet and I won't take 'no' for an answer," Maddie nodded as if her decision was final. "I understand what it feels like to be in love... so don't worry about us misunderstanding you."_

_She was so amazed and moved at the same time that his parents offered up their home to her without a second thought. She thought there would be more yelling, more unhappiness..._

"_How far along are you?" Maddie asked, curiosity clear in her eyes._

"_I... around five months, I think?" she said, looking thoughtfully at the ceiling as she counted backwards. Nodding, she said, "Five."_

"_So far along already! Have you been eating right?"_

"_Mom, you know she has been," Danny chuckled. He was still amazed that she managed to keep up her Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarianism through the pregnancy._

_Maddie nodded with a smile, about to speak but cut off by her husband, "Does anyone else know? Tucker? Jazz? Your parents?"_

_Her expression darkened a bit as she frowned. "My parents know, yes, and they're..." she trailed off, not really wanting to dampen her mood. "Tucker and Jazz know. Tucker was mostly shocked and Jazz claimed the 'I already knew' approach."_

"_What did your parents say?"_

"_I was kicked out, effective immediately," she replied concisely, letting out a heave of a sigh. "So, thank you, very much... you have no idea how much this means to me."_

* * *

Bringing herself back into the present, out of the musings of herself and her past year, she watched the scene in front of her. Danny was sitting cross-legged on the floor with Emily propped up carefully against him so that she wouldn't fall. He held a small but very brightly colored box in front of her, speaking in baby talk to amuse her. Tucker was lying on his stomach, holding up a piece of garland and waving it around, grinning as the baby's eyes followed it slowly.

Sam smiled at her two best friends, still not used to seeing them act so happily and easily around Emily. Though... Emily was already a little flirt, and at such a young age.

Danny's parents were in the kitchen, presumably getting dinner together. Maddie, _Mom_ as she had insisted to Sam, was probably cooking. Jack, _Dad_ as she had been told time and time again, was probably eating everything the second it was done–hence why Mrs. Fenton made a little extra at all times to factor in her husband. Jazz was sifting through the presents that had yet to be opened, rolling her eyes at the antics of the two males but smiling nonetheless. She had come to visit, along with Tucker (whom she was still dating, though now everyone knew about it due to Danny's large mouth and an argument a few months back), for the holiday. Presents and free food? Tucker had no choice but to follow like a leashed puppy.

* * *

_Her eyes scanned the spacious apartment, finding it surreal that it was hers, _theirs_. It wasn't that the Fentons weren't hospitable people, it was just... extremely hard to live under the watchful eye of loving–maybe too loving?–individuals who watched your every step before you even made it. Being pregnant put her into another category entirely, one in that she was either a delicate, porcelain doll or had the ability to shatter into a million pieces if she made a wrong move. Basically, it was the same category twice, and that alone drove her insane._

_They had moved in the day before, boxes littering each and every room. Despite the clutter, it was still owned by them, equally paid for by _them_... and they would bring their child up in this very home until they decided it deemed worthy of them to own a house. However, for now, this apartment, that was located about twenty minutes away from both of their childhood homes, would suffice very nicely. It was big, but not large enough to hear an echo in every room–a problem Danny had with the rooms of her childhood home ever since she could remember._

_Although it had been humorous to watch Danny struggle with boxes (after insisting that she couldn't lift anything heavy), she figured it would save him a little grief if she explored their home a little more by herself. _

_With a hand on her large, swollen abdomen, she walked from room to room, sitting in certain places before getting up and moving again–she felt like testing things out. The size of her stomach had been bothering her for months now, but it was getting worse and worse in her mind... being an average, thin female her entire life, she doubted she would ever be ready to truly get used to pregnancy. The mood swings, the cravings... she was a hair's fraction away from breaking her six-year streak of not eating meat (like she'd tell anyone, either–Tucker would never let her hear the end of it)._

_Despite the feeling of contentment of having her own home with Danny, she felt sad at the fact that she would have to take off at least a year before heading back to college. She urged Danny to continue his education, and hoped that she would be able to take on night classes when she felt up to it–they could trade off shifts with their soon-to-be-born baby girl._

Girl_._

_At her last doctor's appointment, after much argument whether or not to find out the sex of their child, Sam caved. She had gone back, claiming to have forgotten something, and pulled the nurse aside._

_The look on Danny's face when she told him was absolutely worth caving for, anyways. _

_The rest of her life was proceeding smoothly, all things considered (which included her huge stomach, the lack of ability to fit into her old clothing, etcetera). Her parents, always a subject that could dampen her mood, were attempting to send her "hush money" in order for her to not make any public announcement of her pregnancy or the child's birth. With the money, she had received a letter from her mother... a letter that sounded unlike her, but she could sense the sincerity behind it. _

_She blamed it on the hormones and the other heart beating inside of her that contributed to giving her own mother a second chance._

_She had no clue what she was going to do about it, but... she figured things would work out for the best in the end._

_She took their money, sure, but she put it towards the baby's nursery, something that was coming together... pretty nicely. They had painted each of the rooms before moving in, and the baby's room was a nice, light lavender hue–nothing would ever be pink if Sam had anything to say about it._

"_Sam? You all right?" Danny asked, peeking his head into the livingroom to see why she was so quiet. "You've been staring off into space for a while now."_

"_What?" she snapped out of her thoughts, jerking her head in the direction of his voice. "Sorry, I was just thinking. When you can't get up and move around as quickly, you just tend to sit and ponder."_

"_Apparently," he said, walking over to the couch and down sitting next to her. _

"_And to answer your previous question: I'm fine, just... thinking about... how things are going," she said, leaning against him, placing her head on his shoulder. _

_He shifted to wrap his arm around her shoulders so they could be more comfortable. "This is all ours," he said, in somewhat of a childish awe, so thrilled to finally be on his own and away from his hectic home. "Can you believe it?"_

"_It's so hard to imagine, but I can believe it, now," she replied. "I think we got out of your house _just _in time. I swear your mother was going to start baby-proofing your house if we stayed there another minute."_

"_Aw," he responded, waving the hand of the arm around her neck in dismissal, "you know she's just looking out for you, as am I. She was just excited about having a baby around the house again."_

"_Don't I know it," she responded. "Every second she got the chance to she whipped out your old baby pictures, taking my state into mind and how fast I can't move anymore to get out of a room."_

_He chuckled, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Soon everything will die down."_

"_The calm before the storm, you mean." She turned her head, raising an eyebrow at him. "Once we unpack, the baby is going to make her appearance and we won't be able to sleep. Again."_

"_Was this one of the things you were thinking about?" he asked with a smile._

"_Possibly," she admitted, though continued, "but don't tell me you haven't thought about how little sleep you're going to be getting in the upcoming months. How many diapers we're going to have to change, things to clean, things to baby proof, things to hide... we need to get a move on with those things!"_

"_Whoa, whoa," he said, sensing her sudden need to unpack everything at that very moment and then store it away. "Just take a breather and everything will be settled. Tucker and Jazz are going to come by tomorrow to help us unpack and get everything put into place. Don't worry. As for the other things, you can't really get a running start on changing the diapers of a baby that hasn't even been born yet."_

_She chose to ignore his last statement. "Tucker? Oh, _now _I'm worrying," she said, giving him a gentle nudge to the ribs. "Jazz will even him out, though."_

"_Exactly."_

* * *

"She smiled again!" Danny grinned, kissing the top of Emily's head. "I did it!"

"No, I did it!" Tucker argued, frowning. Speaking to Emily, he said, "Tell Uncle Tucker he made you smile."

"Tucker, she can't talk yet," Danny frowned, hoisting Emily up a bit to cuddle her. "But when she does she's going to tell her favoritest Daddy in the whole wide world that it was her that made her smile!" he cooed, nuzzling noses with his daughter.

"You guys are ridiculous, you know that?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow at both of them. "I can give you the real reason why she probably smiled or should I just leave it up to your delusion that you did that?"

"Let him dream," Danny grinned at him, shooting Tucker a mock-dirty look.

Tucker laughed, rolling his own eyes. "Wait until she can talk. Just wait."

"You're going to be waiting a while," Sam sing-songed, swooping down to pick the child up from Danny's arms. "And if Daddy and Uncle Tucker make you be their personal parrot they're each going to get a swift kick in the ass," she said in a sickeningly sweet voice, caressing Emily's cheek with her index finger.

"You guys _are_ ridiculous," Jazz added, making her presence known once again to her boyfriend and brother. "She's going to have psychological problems by the time she'll be able to walk if you guys keep smothering her like that."

"I'm not smothering her! I'm _loving_ her!"

"Sure you are, tough guy," she laughed, tossing a piece of tinsel at Tucker, who chucked one back at her, beginning what was going to be a messy fight.

* * *

"_Hey, Danny?" she asked, sitting at the computer, absentmindedly scrolling down the page, her eyes scanning._

_From the other room, she heard a distant response of, "Yeah?"_

"_What would you want to name little Boo?" she asked, referring to the title they had lovingly given their unborn daughter since they had been fruitless in their efforts to land on one name that was desirable to the both of them._

_At this question, he decided to come into the room rather than yell back to her. "We're onto this again? I thought we decided on just let you decide when the time comes to name Boo?"_

"_Well, I don't want to wait and have no names picked out before Boo's born," she said, continuing to scroll down the page. "What do you think of Absinthe?"_

"_Do you really think it's wise to name our daughter after alcohol that's illegal in the United States? Plus, if we were going to name Boo after alcohol, don't you think we should pay homage to either Vodka or Tequila, which brought us Boo in the first place?"_

"_Blah," she responded, scrolling down to find another name._

"_What about Stephanie?" he asked._

"_Too common."_

"_Fine. When we name our daughter something completely plain and ordinary, I'm going to come back to this conversation and laugh."_

"_You do that," she responded absentmindedly, reading down the never-ending list of names. "Oh! What about Atropine?"_

"_Isn't that a type of poison?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her._

"_How do you know these things?"_

"_What are you looking on, Gothic baby-names-r-us? Let me see–" he tried to move to see over her shoulder, but she pushed the rolled the computer chair back to ward him off._

"_No!" She paused. "Maybe. Just let me look, dammit."_

"_Fine, fine. What about Emily?"_

"_Emily? That's... common. I like it, though," she gave in, still looking down the page. "Oh, how about Clove?"_

"_Didn't you smoke those for like a month non-stop?"_

"_Oh, shut up."_

"_Aw, how about Lilith? I used to be obsessed with that name when I was fourteen," she said, grinning at him. _

"_No."_

"_What? It's pretty!" she tried to reason, furrowing her eyebrows at him._

"_Pretty _no_," he replied, stressing the 'no' with attitude._

"_Ass."_

"_What?" he asked, shocked that she would be pissed about that name. "I don't know, but I don't want Boo to be named that."_

"Fine_. Melanthe?"_

"_Eh."_

"_Court–"_

"_Don't even finish that word," she said, rolling her eyes at the computer screen. "Do you honestly think I'd let you name Boo _Courtney_? Do you _know _me?"_

_He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Of course I do, I'm just seeing how many names I can say will upset you," he responded with a grin before kissing her cheek. He was instantly swatted away when he began to laugh in her ear._

"_We'll wait until she's born," she sighed._

"_Back to square one!"_

* * *

"When she can talk," Danny said in a low voice, getting up so the bickering couple next to them wouldn't be able to hear him too well, "we can tell her that her middle name is Tequila, right? Please?"

"See if you get any more children in the future," she scoffed, giving him a mock-glare before smiling at him. "That would be kind of funny, though."

He wrapped his arm around her as he looked down at their beautiful daughter. "We make fine looking children."

She rolled her eyes, smiling warmly down at Emily, who was looking up at them with wide blue eyes. She had to agree, and he knew she did, even when she said nothing at all.

* * *

September twelfth, 2008.

_No matter how hard she pushed when she was told to, Boo would not come out. Twenty hours into labor, and she was going to throw in the towel. She had been the_ oh-so-wise _one who opted for a natural childbirth, and she could not hate herself more for wanting that option. She wanted the drugs and she wanted them now. Despite this, they wouldn't budge in their stance of not giving her anything. _

_She hated everything at that precise moment._

"_I blame you for this!" she huffed at Danny when he came into the room with a cup of ice for her. He made sure to stay by her head and nowhere near the action; he didn't want to scar himself for life. "If it wasn't for you I would be studying for some exam right now! I wouldn't be here trying to push a watermelon–" she stopped mid-sentence as a piece of ice was pushed into her mouth. "Danny!"_

"_Excuse me if I don't want that mental image," he responded, placing the cup down before pushing her sweat-matted hair from her forehead. "Just keep breathing."_

"_I won't _stop _breathing," she growled back, glaring at him. "I'm not done yelling at–" her eyes squeezed shut as another contraction hit. His hand was in hers without a second to spare, though he regretted that the instant he felt his bones groan in pain at her grip. _

"_Com on, Sam, push! You can do it!" he coached, hoping that she wouldn't be in extreme pain for much longer._

"_I... am... _trying_," she bit out, pushing with as much strength as she possibly could, hoping to any and every god that Boo would make herself known to the world before she would have to reach in there herself and pull her out._

_She was planning on taking drastic measures if this child was going to be as stubborn as both her and Danny combined._

"_The baby's crowning!" _

"_What?" Sam asked, eyes widening, shocked that her internal threats actually made a difference. "Really?" she asked before groaning and trying to push again, her body not willing to keep the same pace as her mind. _

_Danny grinned, pushing her hair our of her face again. "Only a little longer!" he said, holding onto her hand. "Push!" He was thrilled, excited, to see that things were finally moving along for Sam; it almost physically hurt him to see her in this much pain over something he was predominantly responsible for._

"_One last time for me, Ms. Manson!" _

"_Damn... it... all... to..." she bit out, pushing for the final time, only relaxing when she heard the loudest cry of any baby she had heard in her lifetime. Of course, _her _child would have a set of iron lungs on her._

_She was wiped, so exhausted, after being up for so long and having to deal with her boyfriend bumbling at every move, but she wouldn't have it any other way. Boo was here now, and that's all that mattered to her._

_After she and the baby had been cleaned up, the doctor wrapped Boo in a blanket and handed her to Sam. Sam cradled the small, fussy child in her arms, watching her in awe. _

_The instant Sam spoke, the little girl stopped her fussing immediately, her blue eyes wide. "So you're the little one I've been waiting for..." she said softly, trailing a finger along her cheek, reveling in the feel of her soft skin. She peeked under the small hat that had been placed upon her head to see a small tuft of black hair. Smiling, she chanced a look up at Danny, she seeing that_ _his eyes were trained on the little bundle wrapped up in her arms. _

_Looking back at Boo, she realized that she had no clue what to call her, no clue how she would even reference..._

"_What are you going to name her?" the doctor asked, clip board at the ready to jot down the information._

"_We're going to name her... Emily." _

"_Emily," Danny said softly, placing a hand on Sam's shoulder as he continued to watch their child. _

"_Better than Boo, huh?" Sam asked breathlessly, still trying to calm her breathing after that seemingly endless marathon which took a toll on her body._

"_Better than Atropine or whatever the hell else you were trying to name her," Danny joked, expecting to be smacked but she just rolled her eyes, too thrilled to let that get to her when she had Emily in her arms._

* * *

Their little family, as impromptu as it was, was exactly the way she wanted it, and that wouldn't change. Until they decided to expand the Fenton clan just a little bit.

The only change Danny had up his sleeve (literally) was the small little velvet box with a certain diamond ring inside.

In life, one must go through many trials and errors to hit that sweet spot of life where they feel like they belong in their own skin. For Danny and Sam, it took a little more pushing than necessary, but neither would regret that fateful New Year's Eve almost one full year ago.

In the span of a year, what do you think could ever happen to you?


	5. Movement

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Danny Phantom. I doubt I ever will, but while I don't, all the credit goes to Butch Hartman.

**Preface**: Even though I had originally intended on using another plot-line for this challenge, a better (and more interesting) plot bunny bit me in the ass. I haven't accumulated anything with a real plot in ages, and I'm attempting to map this out in entirety. In order to fully understand what's going on, you need to understand that the first four chapters go in chronological order, going by holidays. **The final, and most important, chapter to the five-chapter series, goes back in time to the night before what happened in the first chapter. It's all within the same year (as you'll be able to grasp soon), except for the last chapter, which skips back a day into the year previous. **

So, the dates have been arranged like this: January 1st (New Year's Day), February 14th (Valentine's Day), April 1st (April Fool's Day), December 25th (Christmas), December 31st (New Year's Eve).

Enjoy reading this and please review to tell me what you think! Reviews mean a lot more than you'd imagine.

It's been a fun ride, and I'm glad you've been with me on it. I managed to keep up with the dates (more or less), and shockingly it's taken me the entire year.

* * *

**Trial and Error**

**05**: Movement

**Theme**: 03. Movement

_December 31, 2008_

* * *

The world was white with snow and lingering with remnants of cheer from the recently passed holidays. It was the end of the year: a time full of festivities, laughter, new beginnings.

A those new beginning, one that would hopefully turn into tradition over the years, was Jazz's–soon-to-be-infamous that would (hopefully) go down in history–New Year's party. After much debating (and much worry over her new apartment going to shambles), she had decided that she would throw a small party with her family sans parents (simply, that just meant her brother and the rest of Team Phantom), her friends, and her colleagues. It would be a classy party with a limited amount of alcohol so she could keep tabs on everything and everyone.

Right.

"Wait. You're serious?" Danny asked, his eyebrows almost reaching his hairline in disbelief they were up so high. "You're actually throwing your _own_ party that has _alcohol_?" He pretended to check himself over, look around her apartment for any ominous beings, and then feel his own forehead. "No, I'm not hallucinating... and hell hasn't frozen over–"

"Oh, stop being an asshole, Danny," Jazz replied, rolling her eyes at her little brother as she ran a hand through her shoulder-length hair. "Yes, I'm throwing a party. No, it's not going to be a huge deal. Just a few friends coming together for the New Year. Would you rather be home with Mom, Dad–and the _ham_–sitting on the couch waiting for the ball to drop? I don't think so."

"You know I wouldn't be home–"

"Speaking of, invite Sam and Tucker," she interrupted, shooting him a smile. "I'm sure they'd love to come."

"Will do–"

"Just don't let Mom and Dad know there's going to be alcohol over here, since I'd never hear the end of it from Mom, letting you over–"

"How about we stop interrupting each other and have a full conversation?" he asked, leaning back on the couch. He sat, lounging in her living room while she fluttered around, cleaning and rearranging the little things no one would ever notice but her. Whatever party she was going to throw was sure to be interesting.

* * *

She pushed the 'End' button, sighing contentedly as she did so with a smile on her face. When she turned to Tucker, sliding to sit facing him in the booth, he already had an eyebrow poised and arms crossed over his chest.

"What?" Sam asked, her hands immediately going to her hips.

"You're awful cutesy."

"Oh, shut the fuck up, Tucker," she rolled her eyes, pushing her cell phone into her pocket. "Why are you still remarking about my relationship like it still embarrasses me?"

"Because I don't have my own to pay attention to, so I'm paying attention to the next closest one," he replied. "What, do you think I have anything better to do?" He shifted in the booth, putting his feet up on Sam's side and leaning back. The Nasty Burger tended to be their only space of refuge with something they would both eat with little money (that was willing to be spent).

"Good point," she replied, mimicking his action, though making a heavier thud on his side of the booth with her boots. "So, that was just Danny," she began.

"Already gathered."

"_And_," she gave him a soft glare, "we're invited to go over Jazz's apartment tonight for some festivities."

"Really?" he asked, pulling his feet off of the bench and sitting up a lot straighter than before. "The whole night?"

He got entirely too excited too fast for her liking.

"Oh, no... Tucker, I thought you said you got over her," she groaned, pulling her hand down the length of her face. "We went through this whole conversation. She's been seeing guys here and there, guys all _her age_, and–"

"Can't I dream a little bit? Don't talk to me about unrequited love, Queen of the Damned. You were there, and if I'm not mistaken, you've gotten your happy ending. Can I just pretend to get mine? I haven't seen her in a while, and if we're both invited, we're going. I worked to get closer to her, and it was beginning to work before she went off to college. I need some face time." He paused. "We're going, right?"

"Of course we are," she replied with no hesitation. "I just don't want to see you pull the wounded, 'why me' bullshit again, Tuck. It's really sad to watch. It's a lost cause, Jazz Fenton."

"I said the same thing about Danny, once," he replied with a grin. "We're both very stubborn, Sam."

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Besides, we don't know if it's actually going to be an exciting party or a lame one. We've never truly experienced Jazz in her element, you know?" she reasoned, shrugging a little. Sam lifted her drink, drinking thoughtfully as she tried to picture what sort of party it could be. In her mind, everyone sitting around with argyle sweaters appeared. The women were sitting around drinking tea, wearing knit tights and Mary Jane's. Men were wearing sweater vests and ties. She questioned that thought, along with her sanity. "Anyway, we should just go and support her. We've been guaranteed alcohol, so the night can't be an entire waste."

"Ah, the wonders of being underage. Maybe you'll get lucky," he wiggled his eyebrows at her, to which she blatantly ignored, making loud noises with her straw.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear that."

Tucker laughed and rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure."

"I'm just expecting my kiss at midnight, and that is all."

She chose to leave the more private part of her phone conversation a mystery. What Tucker didn't know meant less teasing for her in the long run.

* * *

This had to have been a first. She had no clue what she wanted to wear, and she actually wanted to look... _pretty_... for the holiday. She stood in her walk-in closet in lingerie she had picked up on a trip to the mall earlier that week with a certain halfa in mind.

After picking an outfit that seemed to do the trick, she got dressed and donned her trusty boots. The second she walked out of her closet, however, she was met with a certain being lying back on her bed. Someone who knew her bed well enough to even make himself comfortable without her. She padded over to him on the plush carpet, hoping she was being quiet enough that he wouldn't hear her; his eyes were closed and he had a smile on his face, a face that she learned to love.

"Well, hello," she said, chuckling as she sat down next to Danny, leaning over him with a hand on his chest to give him a kiss.

"Ah, there you are," his eyes opened and he grinned at her after they had parted from their kiss. "I was wondering what was taking you so long."

"Couldn't decide."

"You?"

"I know," she dismissed, chuckling before kissing him again. "Are we going now?"

"Do we have to?" he pulled her down on top of him, chuckling at her small, unexpected squeal. "I'm afraid her party's going to be a snooze-fest."

"Yeah, well, we have to support her in whatever she does," Sam responded, running a hand through his ever-unruly hair.

"Yeah, yeah. I called dibs on like half of the Jell-O shots I helped make, so we'll be set," he grinned at her before sitting up and bringing her with him. "Let's head over to Tuck's and then go to Jazz's. Then the night can truly begin."

* * *

"...did you know Jazz knew this many people?" Tucker whispered loudly into Danny's ear so he could hear him over the music. The place was packed. Danny figured Tucker's mood and night would improve by the ratio of women to men, but he didn't know what Sam knew.

"Not in the slightest," Danny responded as they made their way through the people to find his sister. Her apartment wasn't all that big to begin with, but somehow she managed to squeeze this many people in. They headed toward the kitchen. Danny felt the need to hoard and section off what was theirs drink-wise so they wouldn't have to fight for it later.

"And the music's actually good," Sam commented, looking around at the different types of people that were around. Varying types of people: tall and short, black and white, rocker and clean-cut. Jazz's taste in friends was far from what she had thought they would be.

"Danny!" He spun at the call of his name, bounding over to his sister who was grinning from ear to ear, probably already a little buzzed by the looks of it. "Did you just get here?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "This place is hysteria. Way to go, Jazz!"

She giggled, "I know, right? Great turn out! Anyway, I'm going to go play hostess, so I'll see you guys around!" She kissed her brother on the cheek, followed by Sam. "Hey Tuck!" she grinned before kissing him on the cheek. "Have fun, you three! Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" With that, she was off.

"I'm not sure what that could even mean anymore."

Sam had to tug Danny into the kitchen to get him to not look back at Tucker. He looked a bit sick all of a sudden.

"She said she was going to hide them in her fridge for me," Danny said more to himself than to Sam as he opened the fridge. Peering in the back, he noticed his tray of green Jell-O shots that he had concocted himself. "There we are!"

* * *

She had lost count of how much alcohol she had, but Danny's arm around her waist was like fire. Five shots of the green stuff, she mused. Some blue stuff? Her mouth was an interesting color, needless to say.

There they were again. His lips. They sparked great interest in her. They would, every so often, brush her cheek, her jaw, her temple–light, but they ignited her skin nonetheless.

They had lost Tucker a while back to the music, or to Jazz–Sam couldn't figure it out for the life of her, just that he wasn't there to crack jokes at their expense anymore. She didn't mind, especially when she had an affectionate Danny all to herself. No one noticed them in the armchair in the corner and no one cared. The dancing and chatting around them didn't need them to pay attention at all.

"What time is it?" Sam yelled, attempting to fumble for her cell phone and failing.

"I think... almost eleven... thirty?" He tried to make out the clock by the television, and that was the closest he could get. "I hope I don't need glasses."

"I doubt it."

"Hey, I have an idea. Let's go walk around a bit," he stood, feeling the rush of the alcohol, and laughing as he swayed. Sam stood up with him, uncharacteristically giggly as she held onto him.

"You're an idiot," she laughed, holding him. "Where do you wanna walk?"

He pointed to a closed door on the opposite side of the room. "There."

After getting inside and shutting the door behind them with no detection from Jazz, Danny locked the door so they wouldn't be disturbed.

"Danny?" she whispered, feeling for him in the darkness, her eyes not adjusting just yet. Her hands touched his chest and then rested there. They stood in silence, his hands moving from her back to slide down the length of her waist to her hips.

"Yeah?" he responded softly. The base of the music could be heard through the door, along with the other partygoers, but he could barely hear it over how loud his heart was beating. It was deafening in his ears.

"We're alone. In the dark."

He made a sound of agreement in the back of his throat as he pulled her closer, wrapping his arms more tightly around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. "We are," he said in her ear, swaying with her in a silent dance.

"What do you have in that mind'a yours right now?"

"You. You're in my head, all the time..." he replied, tilting his head slightly to kiss her neck. "Besides the Vodka, you're what makes m'head swim so much."

"Yeah?" she whispered, reaching a hand up to run a hand through his hair, as if she could get into his mind that way.

"I love you."

He would feel her emotions, her love for him, with her lips on his–hard. With a jerk of his head, her hands fisting his hair, she pulled his lisp to meet hers roughly. His grasp on her tightened as they took a couple steps backwards by the sheer momentum of the kiss. By the time the backs of her knees hit the side of the bed that was in the room, she was finally aware of how many steps they had actually taken back.

She allowed herself to be pushed back onto the bed with a small giggle. When she wrapped a leg around his waist, he groaned and pulled her leg off without hesitation. Laughing, he said, "These'r gonna to kill me one day, yanno."

Her clunky boots were the first thing to go. They proved to be the most painful articles of clothing she had on–they would effectively render him unable to continue if she managed to hit him in the wrong place at the wrong time. Untied with much effort and tossed carelessly off the side of the bed, they resumed their kissing as if they hadn't stopped in the first place. They turned and rolled, each wanting dominance over the other in the kiss.

Eventually, Sam won the first round. Danny's hands went underneath her shirt to rest on her sides before sliding up to rest on the front of her bra. Soon, her shirt followed by her own hands, impatience winning out. A small amount of moonlight filtered in through a window, giving Danny one of the best views of his life. Besides his favorite point of view when he was _getting_ his, but this had to have been the next best thing–right? His lazy grin grew as she began to fumble with her bra. The second her bra had been tossed off the side of the bed, her lips were on his.

His hands immediately went to explore, cold thumbs tracing over nipples, making her shiver under his touch. They had touched like this before, but never so boldly. They had respected boundaries, played it slow to make sure the relationship wouldn't solely focus on this one thing. They had to be ready, so painstakingly _ready_.

"Want you," she breathed, in between kisses, hotly against his mouth.

Deciding 'to hell with it' in his own mind, he quickly made haste with the rest of their clothing, phasing each article in order of where he could grab at it first. Very naked and very close, he switched their positions, moving her to lie on her back–no matter how much she enjoyed being on top in any given situation. Working his way from the top, he kissed her lips, moving down to her jaw, her neck, her collarbone... trailing down her breasts, showering them with attention before making her giggle softly as he licked down her stomach.

He forgot about one thing. The one item of clothing that she had been wearing in which he totally missed when he was phasing off her clothes stared him in the face, bright red and incredibly alluring. He looked up to her with hopeful eyes, and all he received was an image he hoped he would remember in the morning: Sam biting her bottom lip with a grin, her eyes bright despite her drunken haze. She nodded, and he hooked his fingers underneath the elastic waistband of her panties and tugged–pulling them down her shapely legs, her calves, and off entirely, leaving them forgotten somewhere he didn't know.

Making a move to crawl up a little bit and give the attention he knew she loved, he was halted by a hand fisting his hair again and tugging a little more harshly than before.

"Ow, Sammy," he growled, taking the hint and crawling up her body in order to be face-to-face with her. "Yes?" he watched her with expectant eyes, wondering what the problem was. She never denied–

"No foreplay."

"But–" his eyes widened as he searched hers for the answer. "You mean–"

"I mean."

"Now?"

"While we're young," she said with a bit of a playful attitude, raising a defiant brow at him. Her hands trailed up and down his defined abdomen, finally finding a resting place on his hips. Her voice dropped to a low murmur, "Fuck me."

She swore she could hear him swallow as she felt the shiver that overtook him. He swore his mouth was filled with cotton all of a sudden, the temperature in the room jumping at least another ten degrees.

To distract his growing nerves, he kissed her; the kiss was a lot sweeter than the previous ones he had given her. Her mind was foggy, but she knew he was right there with her. That's what mattered to her.

Needing a moment to break for air, he leaned back, watching her while he caught up with the moment. He couldn't help the smile from being plastered on his face; hell, he was about to get _lucky_. How could this day get any better?

She smiled back at him, laughing at the look of pure bliss on his face before drawing him back in for another deep kiss; he would have to get used to being breathless. Giving him a hint, she widened her legs, using the hands on his hips to pull him closer to her. Putting one hand to better use, she grasped his erection, giving it a couple loving strokes before aligning him to her center. The touch alone sent a jolt up his spine. Moving slowly, he pushed into her. He felt her tense slightly and stopped entirely, worried for her sake. Rolling her eyes with a groan, she wrapped her legs around his hips and used her legs to get him to finish the distance quickly. One swift motion.

"Don't worry, you big baby," she smiled softly at him. "I won't break."

"Good, because it is really, really hard to stay still," he breathed, chuckling nervously. He groaned as she started to wiggle against him, involuntarily jerking his hips closer. He thrusted, the feelings of intoxication and sensation overwhelming him, forcing him to lose himself in what he was feeling.

From the delicious friction between them as he moved faster to the small gasps and noises she was making, he was in heaven.

If he were to fully die right then and there, he would've died a happy man.

Sam held onto him tightly as she moved within her, keeping her eyes locked on his the entire time, when they were open and now screwed shut with his mouth dropped open. She could've sworn they were either a deeper blue or she was hallucinating such a beautiful color. It made her forget whatever discomfort she had felt. The pain she had figured that she would feel was barely a prick of a needle, which made her even happier.

The amount of time spent in their impromptu lovemaking was unknown to her, but the sounds of their low moans that had already been overshadowed by the noises of the party going on around them began to grow even louder as the festivities reached their climax–as well as Danny. His movements became more frantic, more hurried. She felt the beginnings of a build up within herself, but knew this was not her night–she read enough articles to know, even drunk, about what would happen her first time. His groans got louder the faster he moved, his grip even tighter. She moved with him, as much as she could, even for more of the sensation flowing through her. It was unreal, to be this close with him.

He buried his face in the crook of her neck with a strangled gasp as he came with little warning, his breath hot against her skin. "Oh, Sam–'m so sorry, I–"

"Shhh," she cooed as she felt him drop next to her on the bed, pulling out of her. He reached for her to hold in his arms. She was slightly disappointed, but glad that they didn't have a massacre of an attempt. "Don't worry 'bout me. I'll get mine. We have forever to get it right." She yawned suddenly, "I'm just–"

"**5... 4... 3... 2... 1... **_**Happy New Year!**_"

They looked at one another, shocked that the time had flown by so quickly (though they really shouldn't have been surprised), and smiled before sharing a tender, lingering kiss to bring in the new year right.

"Happy New Year," they said at the same time, chuckling at their knack for saying anything in unison that had followed them through high school to college.

Sam yawned, snuggling into his embrace before closing her eyes. "I love you," she said softly against his chest. The next thing she knew, he was pulling the covers over them to keep them warm.

"I love you, too, Sam," he replied, kissing her forehead with a quiet yawn. "I know this will be the best year yet, you'll see."

"Mhm," she mumbled sleepily, yawning again before shutting her eyes, the room slightly swirling behind her eyelids. "We'll... just see."


End file.
